stepping on stones
by foreversnow
Summary: For SasuSaku Month. Day 14: Sasuke found himself looking up at the sky as well, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I can see why Naruto is so fond of you."  —SasuSaku
1. stepping on stones

**prompt: **AU, "Fix You" by Coldplay**  
>words: <strong>391  
><strong>summary: <strong>She wanted to be somebody.**  
>note:<strong>Done for SasuSaku Month on LJ. I'm really nervous about this for some reason. D:  
><strong>note2:<strong> It's short, but I tried my best to get this out on the right day. c:

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><p><strong>stepping on<br>**_s t o n e s_

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><p>(She was just a thing left for dead in the world.)<p>

Dirt clung to her bubblegum pink hair, hugging her cheeks tightly as she stared blankly up at the night sky. Rain slapped at her pale skin. The feeling in her stomach made her sick, made her want to rot away. At least then she wouldn't have to suffer from crushed dreams and stepped-on hopes.

Her lips parted to choke out laughter. "I'm fine…I'm perfectly fine." She laughed again, tears mixing with the rain on her face. "I…" She froze, her eyes moving to the person standing in front of her. She mouthed his name, afraid that if she said it out loud he would disappear, would leave like he always had in the past.

No, things were different. _She _had left **him **this time.

(She wanted to _be _somebody.)

Nothing was going to change if she couldn't get out of this forgotten city. But something always held her back. Something always made her insides claw with guilt, with loneliness.

(She wanted to be _free_.)

"Sakura."

Her breath caught. He always did that to her; left her breathless after only saying her name. Why? Her heart clenched, made it hard for her to breathe. Why was it always _his _voice that captured her every thought?

"Come. It's late."

Her legs moved on instinct, trying to catch up with his familiar form. "S…Sasuke—" She stumbled on uneven pavement, her arms moving forward, hopelessly trying to stop herself from falling.

She never felt the harsh ground against her knees.

Opening her eyes, she looked up, so close she could see the endless black of his eyes. "Ah…" Heat rushed to her face, reddening her cheeks. "Sasuke…—kun…"

"You're horrible at walking, Sakura." He sets her up straight and steps back, turning in the direction he had been heading before. She watched him take a couple steps and stop, turning to look at her. "You coming?" His outstretched hand was met by hers, circling loosely around her fingertips. Her chest felt light suddenly, and the laugh that escaped her lips was different from before. "Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, you came!"

His smile lit up the dark sky, made her world seem a little less broken. "I will always be the one to guide you home."

(She wanted to be with _him_.)

"Hm~." She smiled. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."


	2. wet asphalt

**prompt: **scent  
><strong>words: <strong>509  
><strong>summary: <strong>It's the small moments in life that make a difference, he thought.  
><strong>note: <strong>I love Spring. And the scent of wet asphalt on a sunny day. Isn't it just beautiful when raindrops are falling and the sun is shining brightly at the same time?  
>I think these are more like drabbles, but oh well. I like writing these. (:<p>

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><p>w e t<br>asphalt

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><p>"It smells like spring…"<p>

His eyes focused on the person next to him, her pink, shoulder-length hair bobbing up and down as she walked. She smiled up at him when she noticed the look he was giving her. "What, don't you smell it?"

"Spring doesn't have a 'smell', Sakura."

He heard her overly-dramatic gasp and rolled his eyes on instinct. "Plants smell, people smell, animals smell. Seasons _don't_."

Her cheeks puffed. "Sasuke-kun, spring smells like earth. Like the smell of rain on asphalt on a sunny day. It's the smell you can feel in your _heart_. I can't believe you're saying it doesn't have a scent!"

Sasuke shrugged, changing the conversation to the task they had at hand. Sakura easily went along with his change of topic, reading out loud from the scroll she had been carrying. After listening for a couple seconds, Sasuke's attention began to wander back to their former conversation. His eyes grew darker. There was no such thing as a season having a scent, he thought.

The only scent he knew by heart was that of **blood**.

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><p>He was covered in it, the color staining his clothes, clinging to his skin. His teammates lay at his feet, cuts all over their bodies, blood oozing out as his hand formed into a fist. He could feel the blood drying on his palms, on the handle of the katana he held in his hand. It took him a moment to realize he was <em>laughing<em>, his eyes staring at the lifeless forms of his friends, at the empty, open eyes of his pink-haired teammate—

His eyes snapped open to find bright emerald eyes staring worriedly at him. "Sasuke-kun, shh, calm down, it's okay." He laid down slowly, putting a hand over his eyes. His breathing was uneven, his skin shining with sweat.

"It's okay, Sasuke-kun, it was just a dream." She cupped his cheek softly, murmuring reassuring words until his body relaxed and he found himself slipping into a deep sleep once again.

Stroking his hair softly, Sakura rested her cheek on the bed Sasuke was sleeping in. She curled up against the bed, tucking her legs up against her chest. She was half asleep when she felt a light touch on her shoulder jerk her awake. "Sasuke-kun…? Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?"

His eyes were hard to read in the dark, as black as the dark side of the moon. She jumped slightly when she felt his arms circle under her arms and pull her onto the bed, placing her in the empty spot next to him. "There's plenty of room on the bed, Sakura. You don't have to sleep on the floor."

"…Mm. Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

He reached out a hand, placing it inches away from hers on the bed.

The scent of cherry blossoms that came from her gave him a sense of peace that nothing else had ever done before. Speaking out loud, he voiced his thought to the sleeping Sakura, "It's the scent of Spring, isn't it."


	3. drifting by

**prompt: **chance meetings, summer  
><strong>words: <strong>1,189  
><strong>summary: <strong>Sasuke found himself looking up at the sky as well, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I can see why Naruto is so fond of you."

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><p><strong>d r i f t i n g<br>**_by_

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><p>The first time he saw her, it was at a bonfire during summer vacation. He didn't think she was anything special. She was just another girl with a loud mouth and bright pink hair. <em>It's probably not even real<em>, he thought. _She just wants to get noticed with that color hair._

"Nice to meet you, Sasuke! Naruto's told me a lot about you. I'm Sakura."

Her name was Sakura (he almost snorted when he learned this), her hair color was _real_, and she had been Naruto's childhood crush. Typical, for Naruto to fall for a loudmouth like him.

What was so great about her? She talked about the same things all the other girls did, like what she had heard about some guy in her class doing who knows what and that she was sure that her science teacher hated her. Really, this girl was hardly interesting to listen to, yet Naruto couldn't keep his eyes off her. It was obvious that the childhood crush hadn't gone away yet.

Sasuke scowled. She probably had no idea how Naruto felt about her. It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone be completely oblivious to their surroundings. He _was_ friends with Naruto, after all.

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><p>It was three weeks after they first met that he saw her crying.<p>

He had just gotten off his shift at work and was on his way home when he saw a girl with bright pink hair clutching something to her chest. She was shaking, her small shoulders shielding his view of what was hidden in her folded arms. He had never been very good at handling crying girls, so he avoided them whenever possible, but he knew Naruto would get pissed at him if he didn't at least see if she was okay. Sighing, he came within arm's reach of her and bent down to tap her on the shoulder. Her bright green eyes were sparkling from the tears running down her face, her voice muffled by the sobs that kept trying to rise in her throat. "I didn't get here in time, Sasuke."

He was about to ask what she meant by that when she showed him the thing she had been holding in her arms. A small kitten lay in the blanket she had wrapped around him, small and motionless. "What happened to it?"

More tears slid down her face when she replied, "Somebody abandoned it because it had a bad leg. Can you believe it? Who would be cruel enough to do that to a kitten? It was just a baby!"

She wouldn't stop crying no matter what he said, until he remembered what his mother had done in these situations when he was a little boy. "He needs a proper burial."

Her head moved to look him in the eye, her expression surprised but nonetheless curious. "Burial? Where would we do that?"

"My house has a backyard. We can bury him there." He paused. "If you bury him, then his soul can rest. He'll be grateful to you for doing that much."

He was left speechless when she smiled.

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><p>The third time he ran into her, he was angry beyond belief.<p>

He didn't remember the last time he had gotten this mad at his father. After storming out of the house, he had wandered around town, half-aware of his surroundings. When he finally looked around to figure out where he was, he realized he had walked across town. Neighborhood houses lined both sides, and a park sat at the end of the street. He stopped walking, wondering what to do next. _I'm not going back_, he thought. _Not yet. _He could see families walking by, beach gear in tow, obviously on their way home from the beach. Looking up at the sky, he watched as the sun began to lazily crawl across the sky and hide behind the town's faraway skyscrapers. The wind blew lightly against him, the summer heat slowly dying down for the day.

"Sasuke? Is that you?"

Turning to look at the source of the voice, he was surprised to see Sakura standing there, holding a bag of groceries in one hand. "Sa…kura." He found it strange to say her name after not seeing her for months, the words alien on his tongue.

"What're you doing out here, Sasuke?" She looked at him with curious eyes, and said, "Wait right here, okay? I'm just going to go drop off my stuff at home; I'll be right back!" Before he could say anything, she sprinted down the street and around the corner. A couple seconds later she was running back in his direction, her cheeks flushed pink. "Come on, Sasuke!" She grabbed his hand and ran in the park's direction, heading straight for the swings.

After sitting down on a swing and motioning for him to do the same, she smiled at him and looked up at the sky. It was silent for a few minutes, the faraway sounds of people passing by reaching their ears.

Her head was tilted up to look at the darkening sky as she asked, "What's wrong, Sasuke? I can tell something's troubling you; you react just like Naruto, wandering around aimlessly when something is wrong." Feeling his eyes on her, she smiled up at the sky. "Uwah~, you're not much of a talker, are you, Sasuke."

"Ah." He wasn't about to tell her his own personal problems, not to this girl who he barely knew. Sure, Naruto trusted her, but Sasuke knew better than to trust people so easily.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong, you know." She was looking at him now, her smile gentler than before. "Whenever something's bothering me, I tend to want to be alone, but that never seems to solve anything, does it? I find it's easier to talk to someone about it, and if you can't do that, then at least to have someone to keep you company. It's lonely facing things all on your own."

He didn't really understand what she was saying; his whole life, he had been raised to follow the rules, and if he got into trouble, he had no one to blame but himself. That was his life, his childhood. Now this girl was telling him that it was okay to show someone your weaknesses, to let them feel sorry for you?

Still, something about the way she looked at him made him feel at ease. She didn't know what he was mad about, but she could feel that it was a problem he had to face sooner or later. She was trying to _help _him, someone she barely even knew.

Sasuke found himself looking up at the sky as well, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I can see why Naruto is so fond of you."

He didn't have to look at her to know she was smiling widely at him.

"Is it okay if I keep you out a little longer? I don't think I'm ready to go back just yet."

She smiled. "Of course."

Her laughter filled him with a feeling he couldn't quite understand.

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><p><strong>note:<strong> THAT'S RIGHT, LOVE. Sasuke's about to be swimming in it. ;D


End file.
